Aly Raisman.Photo:Roy Rochlin/Getty
Roy Rochlin/Getty
Aly Raismanis joining ESPN!The three-time Olympic gold medalistis set to join the network as an analyst on its NCAA gymnastics broadcasts, PEOPLE has exclusively learned.
ESPN will make an official announcement on Thursday afternoon. Raisman, 29, will make her broadcasting debut on Friday during a meet between No. 8-ranked LSU and No. 6 Kentucky.
“I’m so excited,” Raisman tells PEOPLE. “If I’m being honest, I’m also very nervous because I want to do a good job.”Raisman says the analyst job is “very different than anything I’ve ever done” but it will offer “a really cool new chapter for me and a big challenge.”
“I’m just really excited and appreciative for the opportunity to be able to stay involved in the sport,”the two-time world champion says.
Aly Raisman.Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty
Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty
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“I probably haven’t watched this much since I was eight years old, and I was watching the 96 Olympics over and over again,” she laughs, giddy with excitement over the opportunity. “I feel like a little kid again.”
Aly Raisman.Michael Regan/Getty
Michael Regan/Getty
Raisman’s broadcasting career will kick off alongside fellow U.S. Olympian John Roethlisberger, who also calls college gymnastics meets for ESPN and has helped Raisman prepare for her debut.
Raisman and Roethlisberger are two of several former Olympians on the ESPN broadcasting team, which also includes Bart Conner, Kathy Johnson Clarke, Samantha Peszek, Bridget Sloan and Alicia Sacramone Quinn.
“I’m just hoping that in the moment I won’t be too nervous,” Raisman says. “I’m trying to imagine it as if I’m sitting in a living room with friends and people who don’t know anything about gymnastics, and I’m kind of just walking them through it and explaining how things go.”Raisman adds: “I just kind of want to be able to do my best to just enjoy it and also just be a fan for the night and have fun.”
Kentucky vs. LSU airs at 9 p.m. ET. on the SEC Network, part of ESPN’s network.
source: people.com